Advertising results against real sales.

Google takes credit for this sale.So does Meta.How much was actually sold?

Google Ads, Meta and other ad platforms measure their own impact with different attribution models, windows and modeling. That is why the same purchase can appear in the results of more than one channel. This does not mean that the platforms' reporting is wrong. It means that attributed sales and actual sales are different things. If they are combined into one figure, the report shows more sales than the online store has actually made, and budget decisions are based on the wrong figure.

1. 01The ad account ROAS looks good, but the revenue does not match.The platform's ROAS is based on sales the platform itself has attributed.The top figure of the summary is advertising cost as a share of actual sales, not the platform's ROAS.
2. 02Sales change suddenly in the report.Without further information, there is no way to tell whether the business changed or the measurement broke.Measurement changes are marked in the report as break points, so they do not look like a drop in sales.
3. 03The monthly report is rebuilt every month.Along the way, the definition, the scope or the calculation method changes depending on who builds it.The report and the monthly summary are produced without manual work, with the same definition every month.

Business figures are not inferred from an ad platform.

Snowetic Report separates three things: what actually happened in the online store, what analytics was able to measure, and what the ad platforms attribute to themselves. They are not forced into one figure. The differences between them are shown.

• The online store's actual sales are the reference point.

  Only the store system's figure is called sales. The definition of sales, meaning which orders, returns, VAT and shipping costs are included, is recorded in the settings once and stays fixed. The ad platforms' conversion value is shown as attribution under their own names with the attribution window visible, and the revenue measured by analytics is shown as measured revenue. Three different things do not merge into one vague sales figure in the report.

• Every figure shows where it comes from and how it was calculated.

  Every metric has a name, a definition, a source and a calculation method, and they are visible in the report. When leadership asks what a figure means, the answer does not depend on who built the report. A figure without a definition is not reported.

• The same figure means the same thing next month too.

  Reporting becomes useful only when periods can be compared with each other. Snowetic keeps the metric definitions the same from month to month, so the trend can be compared with the previous month and with the same period of the previous year without the calculation method changing between the two. If a definition is changed, the change is documented.

• The report also tells you when the data should not be read as usual.

  The report also shows the condition of the data: whether the measurement has changed, what has been corrected and whether the figure can be trusted. A change in the business and a change in the data are not the same thing. Measurement changes and feed corrections are recorded in the change log and appear in the report as break points. If there is an error in a source, the report says so instead of showing a wrong figure. This way a technical interruption does not end up looking like a collapse of the business.

One report shows you both the result and the data it is based on.

The report brings ad accounts, analytics, Merchant Center, Search Console and the store system together in one view.

• SummaryThe top figure is advertising cost as a share of actual sales. Actual sales, advertising costs and platform attribution side by side.
• Online storeActual sales by the agreed definition.
• Advertising by channelCosts and the ad platforms' own attribution figures by channel.
• BudgetHow much was spent on advertising relative to the plan and to actual business.
• Product feed healthProblems found and corrections made in Snowetic Feed by product group, when Feed is in use.
• Measurement statusWhether measurement changes or interruptions affecting the results have been detected.

The figures are fetched every night, and the previous day's figures are in the report in the morning. At the start of the month, a monthly summary is produced: what happened, what changed and which figure it is based on. A cause is stated only when it can be found in the change log. If a connection is only possible, it is marked as a hypothesis, not as a fact. All data can be exported in machine-readable form in a single run if you want to use it elsewhere.

Read access is enough.

You give Snowetic read access to your ad accounts and analytics, and a read-only key to your store system. Before onboarding, the key business figures are defined, for example what is included in sales and how returns are handled. Snowetic fetches history retroactively for the period the source makes available, and the first available figures appear in the report once the data has been fetched. The first monthly summary is produced after the first full month. The data processing agreement is confirmed before a single account is connected.

Measure and Feed keep the data in order.Report shows what happened.

Snowetic Measure keeps advertising measurement in order and tells you whether the measured data can be trusted. Snowetic Feed keeps product data in the condition the channels require. Snowetic Report connects this information to what actually happened in the business. The report then shows not only that a figure changed, but also whether something happened in the measurement or the product data at the same time that needs to be taken into account in the interpretation.

Questions and answers

• How does Snowetic Report compare advertising figures with actual sales?

  Sales from the store system are brought into the report at daily level, and advertising costs, ad platform attribution and the revenue measured by analytics are shown next to them for the same day. The difference is shown as a figure. The platforms' figures are not called sales.

• Does the report tell you which channel deserves credit for the sales?

  Ad platform attribution is shown by channel as its own figure, and actual sales are shown alongside as the reference point. A channel's exact share of actual sales is not given as a single figure.

• Which sources does the report pull the figures from?

  Ad accounts, for example Google Ads and Meta, analytics, Search Console, Merchant Center and the store system. The sources are not limited to these.

• How often are the figures updated?

  Every night. The previous day's figures are in the report in the morning, and the monthly summary is produced at the start of the month with the same definitions the reporting uses continuously.

• Can we export the data?

  Yes. All data is available in machine-readable form in a single run.

• Why can a Snowetic Report figure differ from the Google Ads or Meta figure?

  Because they measure different things. The online store reports actual orders. Analytics reports the share of events it is able to measure. Ad platforms attribute conversions based on their own rules, windows and modeling. Snowetic Report does not blur these differences. It shows them side by side and explains what each figure means.